Sydney FC coach Frank Farina says he is hopeful Italian star Alessandro Del Piero will be fit to play in Saturday’s A-League derby with Western Sydney Wanderers.
Del Piero did not train with the Sky Blues on Thursday as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury that sidelined him from last week’s 2-1 win away to Wellington.
Farina said he would give Del Piero until just before the match at Sydney Football Stadium to prove his fitness.
“You’d like to be in a situation where there was no question about him playing, but there is still that little bit of doubt there,” Farina said.
“But we’ve still got 48 hours.”
After ending their five-game winless streak last week, the Sky Blues will be boosted by the return of Terry Antonis and Brett Emerton who missed the past two matches while on national team duty in Hong Kong where the Socceroos qualified for the East Asian Cup.
Farina indicated it would be tough to drop anyone involved in the win last weekend.
But he will be without defensive midfielder Terry McFlynn as he serves a one-match ban after being sent off last week, with Emerton, Antonis or Hagi Gligor the likely contenders as the replacement.
“No one really deserves to miss out from last weekend, but that decision will be made Friday after the final session,” Farina said.